The absurd is the realization that the world exists independently from any meaning that one attempts to give it. Here Camus is talking about the primitive hostility of the world, how dense and strange it is. That stage scenery masked by habit becomes again what it is”. Camus wrote that “the world evades us because it becomes itself again. The absurd is described as the gap between oneself and one’s senses, who one thinks they are and the resistance of the world to human endeavors. The absurd is a theme that much of Albert Camus’ work revolves around. This passion, revolt and freedom is precisely why he was punished for his passions. Sisyphus lived his whole life revolting against death and was fiercely passionate about living, he always chose to fight for life. Sisyphus is crowned as the absurd hero of the story by Camus, a title not to be taken lightly.

Sisyphus’ story is the epitome of the human condition, and that human beings cannot escape the condemnation of futile labor.

Camus expertly dissects Sisyphus’ existence and relates it to three final consequences of human life with the absurd freedom, revolt and passion. There are many reasons why the tale of “The Myth of Sisyphus” is important to Albert Camus, for one, it is an allegory for what it means to be human.

Sisyphus story